What a proposed realignment beginning in 2020 means for Grand Strand high schools
Georgetown County high schools Waccamaw and Georgetown will move into a Class 3A region with Horry County schools Aynor and Loris if the proposed South Carolina High School League 2020-22 realignment plan released Thursday is approved.
Georgetown and Waccamaw are currently in a six-team 3A region with four Charleston-area schools, and would join their fellow Grand Strand schools and football power Dillon in a new five-school Region 7-3A.
Those will be the only significant changes for Strand high school athletic teams under the proposal.
If the proposal is approved, Region 6-5A that includes Conway, Carolina Forest, Socastee and St. James will become smaller, and Region 6-4A that includes Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach will grow.
Those regions are impacted by the moves down in classification of South Florence and West Florence from 5A to 4A, and Marlboro County from 4A to 3A.
Marlboro County moves down from the region that includes Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach, and West Florence and South Florence move in to join Hartsville, Darlington and Wilson in a seven-team Region 6-4A.
Only Sumter would replace the two Florence schools in Region 6-5A, which drops from six to five schools. But the region should be harder for the Strand football programs to win considering Sumter won its 5A Upstate region this past season and went 10-1 with a playoff loss to eventual state semifinalist Gaffney.
Two-time reigning Class A state football champion Green Sea Floyds is placed in Region 5-A with Hannah-Pamplico, Johnsonville, Lake View, Lamar, Timmonsville and Coastal Leadership Academy in the Socastee area, which doesn’t have a football program.
Realignment happens in the state every two years and is done to level the competitive playing field among schools.
This year’s realignment is based on 45-day numbers from grades 9-11. In the past, the 135-day numbers were used through grades 9-12. The goal of this year’s realignment is in part to shrink the number of schools in Class 5A and increase Class A.
Class 5A went from 48 to 40 schools and Class A went from 38 to more than 50 schools, although not all play football. The top 40 schools were picked for Class 5A and next 40 for Class 4A. The remaining three classes were divided and factored on a plus or minus four schools scale, giving more flexibility to move teams up or down and align geographically.
“I appreciate the hard work and commitment of the staff and the cooperation and patience of the member schools as we worked through this process,” SCHSL commissioner Jerome Singleton. said “We truly appreciate the time and input from the reclassification/realignment guidelines committee as well. The newly formed group of individuals provided a wealth of experience and knowledge to assist us with this project.”
In an effort to maximize the number of schools with football teams in each region, some schools are participating in a different region (same classification) for football only.
Each school can appeal their region or classification placement. Appeals to each classification’s executive committee will be heard Jan. 28-30. The SCHSL executive committee will hear appeals Feb. 12 and, if needed, they will go before an appellate panel that will hear them Feb. 19.
Some of the biggest changes statewide include new schools.
Lucy Beckham High opens next year in Mount Pleasant and will be in same Class 4A region with other Charleston-area and Hilton Head-area schools. May River, which is moving up to Class 4A, will also be in that region.
Catawba Ridge, which opened this year, will be in Class 4A. Oceanside Collegiate, a charter school in the Lowcountry, is moving up to Class 3A. Wren, which just won the 4A football championship, is moving down to Class 3A in the same region with Daniel and Belton-Honea Path. Greenwood, Westside and Laurens are all moving down to Class 4A.
The new proposed regions for 2020-22.
Class 5A
Region 1: Hillcrest J. L. Mann Mauldin T. L. Hanna Woodmont
Region 2: Byrnes, Dorman, Riverside, Spartanburg, Wade Hampton
Region 3: Boiling Springs, Clover, Fort Mill, Gaffney, Nation Ford
Region 4: Blythewood, Northwestern, Ridge View, Rock Hill,Spring Valley
Region 5: Chapin, Dutch, Fork, Lexington, River Bluff, White Knoll
Region 6: Carolina Forest, Conway, Socastee, St. James, Sumter
Region 7: Berkeley, Cane Bay, Goose Creek, Stratford, Wando
Region 8: Ashley Ridge, Fort Dorchester, Stall, Summerville, West Ashley
Class 4A
Region 1: Easley, Pickens, Travelers Rest, Walhalla, Westside
Region 2: Eastside, Greenville, Greenwood, Greer, Laurens
Region 3: Catawba Ridge, Indian Land, Lancaster, South Pointe, York
Region 4: AC Flora, Dreher, Lugoff-Elgin, Richland Northeast, Westwood
Region 5: Aiken, Airport, Irmo, Midland Valley, North Augusta, South Aiken
Region 6: Darlington, Hartsville, Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, South Florence, West Florence, Wilson
Region 7: Beaufort, Bluffton, Colleton County, Hilton Head Island, James Island, Lucy Beckham, May River
Class 3A
Region 1: Belton-Honea Path, Daniel, Pendleton, Seneca, West-Oak, Wren
Region 2: Berea, Blue Ridge, Carolina, Palmetto, Powdersville, Southside
Region 3: Broome, Chapman, Clinton, Emerald, Union County, Woodruff
Region 4: Chester, Fairfield-Central, Keenan, Lower Richland, Mid-Carolina
Region 5: Brookland-Cayce, Fox Creek, Gilbert, Orangeburg-Wilkinson, Strom Thurmond, Swansea
Region 6: Camden, Crestwood, Lake City, Lakewood, Manning, Marlboro County
Region 7: Aynor, Dillon, Georgetown, Loris, Waccamaw
Region 8: Academic Magnet, Battery Creek, Bishop England, Hanahan, North Charleston, Oceanside Collegiate
Class 2A
Region 1: Abbeville, Christ Church, Crescent, Greenville Tech, Liberty, Ninety Six
Region 2: Blacksburg, Brashier MC, Chesnee, Greer MC, Landrum, Legion Collegiate, St. Joseph
Region 3: Andrew Jackson, Buford, Central, Cheraw, Chesterfield, Legion Collegiate, North Central, York Prep
Region 4: Batesburg-Leesville, Columbia, Eau Claire, Gray Collegiate, Newberry, Saluda
Region 5: Barnwell, Edisto, Pelion, Silver Bluff, Wade Hampton
Region 6: Burke, Lake Marion, Philip Simmons, Ridgeland-Hardeeville, Timberland, Woodland
Region 7: Andrews, Kingstree, Latta, Lee Central, Marion, Mullins
Class A
Region 1: Calhoun Falls, Dixie, High Point Academy**, McCormick, SCSDB**, Southside Christian, Ware Shoals, Whitmire
Region 2: CA Johnson, Governor’s School**, Great Falls, Lamar (football only), Lewisville, McBee, Midlands Stem**, Riverwalk Academy**
Region 3: Blackville-Hilda, Calhoun County, Denmark-Olar, Hunter-Kinard-Tyler, North, Ridge Spring-Monetta, Wagener-Salley, Williston-Elko
Region 4: CE Murray, Carvers Bay, East Clarendon, Hemingway, Scott’s Branch
Region 5: Coastal Leadership**, Green Sea-Floyds, Hannah-Pamplico, Johnsonville, Lake View, Lamar, Timmonsville
Region 6, Allendale-Fairfax, Bamberg-Ehrhardt, Bethune-Bowman, Branchville, Bridges Prep**, Estill, Polaris Tech**, Royal Live Oak**
Region 7: Baptist Hill, Charleston Math & Science, Cross, Low Country Leadership**, Military Magnet, Palmetto Scholars**, St. John’s, Whale Branch
** denotes no football
This story was originally published December 19, 2019 at 4:02 PM.
